This invention relates generally to closures, and more particularly to a doorstop which is mounted in a floor below the path of a swinging door.
Prior inventors have provided a variety of doorstops from the common chocks to sophisticated mechanical devices intended for special applications.
A number of prior devices include floor-mounted units having a stop which can be raised to interfere with motion of a swinging door. Of interest are the stops shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,462,623, 4,797,970, 1,895,146 and 1,271,363, and German Patents 888,220 and 942,494.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,623 is the most pertinent prior patent of which we are presently aware. It discloses a door stopper including a stationary, outer cylindrical housing mounted in the floor by means of screws passing into the floor through holes in a circumferential flange at the upper end of the housing. A cylindrical inner housing is retained within the outer housing, and is biased upward by a coil compression spring placed between the lower, closed end of the outer housing and an abutment on the inner housing. When the inner housing is telescoped to its upper position, it blocks a door from passing the device. However, the stop may be retracted by applying foot pressure to the inner housing, forcing it into the outer housing, where it is retained in its lower position by a stop mechanism having outwardly spring-biased balls, that engage a ring mounted on the interior surface of the outer housing, to hold the inner housing in its retracted position. The stop can be deployed by depressing the stop, and then quickly releasing it, so that its momentum overcomes the detent action of the balls.
The present invention, while basically similar to that described in the preceding paragraph, is more simply constructed, and therefore less expensive to produce, and potentially more durable.